Crossword Genius

State of trap set up on river to the north (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nigeria

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'state' is the definition.
(I know that Nigeria is African country)

'trap set up on river to the north' is the wordplay.
'trap' becomes 'gin' (gin trap is a kind of animal trap).
'set up' says the letters should be written backwards (in a down clue, letters go up).
'on river' becomes 'aire' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to the north' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters go up or 'northward').
'gin' written backwards gives 'nig'.
'aire' written backwards gives 'eria'.
'nig'+'eria'='NIGERIA'

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nigeria that I've seen before include "part of Africa" , "African country r" , "West African republic" , "West African state" , "African country, capital Abuja" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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